


'Bots Meet: Skyrim

by dwynling



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies)
Genre: Gen, I have no idea why i wrote this, The bots do Earth Things, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 11:45:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12747657
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwynling/pseuds/dwynling
Summary: It's a day off for everyone, so Sam decides to hook his PlayStation console up at the NEST base so he can show the Autobots his new favourite game.





	'Bots Meet: Skyrim

NEST operations were quiet that day. The sun had risen and brought with it only peace - not a single alert had arisen showing promise of Decepticon mayhem. Optimus Prime as such, with permission from the human leaders, had allowed his Autobots a day off work. He had intended it to be a day for training and team building, but it would have seemed the 'bots wanted nothing more than a day off to fool around and enjoy themselves. Prime had watched them dart away with grins on their facial plating, sighing as he tried to assign a more professional term to their actions than simply 'fooling around'. 

Sam Witwicky turned up seated inside the yellow Camaro named Bumblebee, complete with a gaming console on his lap and a smug grin on his face. With no classes on that day and no work for the Autobots, he figured he and Bumblebee could share their new obsession: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It was the latest game from Bethesda, and Sam seriously enjoyed playing it through Bumblebee's optical projector. Having an alien friend made of machinery really helped when you couldn't afford a T.V. to play the game on. 

Approaching the training hangar - now just a big room for gossip and playfighting amongst the bots - Sam and Bee presented the console to the Autobots.

"What is  _that?_ " Ironhide questioned with a scoff, eyeing the small black box being plugged into Bumblebee. 

"It's a PS3," Sam responded excitedly, ignoring Ironhide's tone, "and you're gonna play it."

"Hah- wait, what?"

Sam finished hooking up the cables and allowed Bumblebee to take charge, firing up the console and projecting a huge image onto the wall of the bunker. Bee's speakers acted as such, blasting the opening music for the game. Ironhide hummed approvingly, seating himself nearby to Bumblebee.

"Sounds like a battle anthem," Ironhide commented, before looking over at Sam, "What is this?"

"It's Skyrim," Sam spoke as if extremely pleased that Ironhide showed interest, "It's a game where you can explore a fantasy world and-" Ironhide huffed and began to get up and leave, " _and_ you get to murder people." Ironhide paused, and slowly sat back down again.

Ratchet came onto the scene, huffing about people 'not taking things seriously', before staring blankly at the projection of a huge silver draconic symbol on the wall. "What in Primus' name is that?" He didn't seem remotely interested, but Ironhide tugged on his servo to pull him down to join them. "Ironhide, can you please  _not?_ "

"Shut up. Sam, how do you play?" Ironhide showed some interest now, ignoring Ratchet's pleas for release.

Sam eyed the Autobot medic for a bit, watching Ratchet try to undo Ironhide's firm grip before grinning. "Here, learn on the job." Sam presented a controller - it wasn't even the size of Ironhide's thumb, let alone big enough for him to hold.  

"Sam, this is tiny." The gruff bot commented before Bumblebee whirred and threw a metal slab with buttons on it towards him. "Wha- you  _made_ a controller?"

Sam grinned, "No, Bumblebee did - he wanted to play so he made a way for him to play. Hand-wired by him and working wonderfully. So there you go - learn on the job." 

Ironhide released Ratchet's hand and reached uncertainly for the controller. "Now what?"

"Use that joystick to select 'New Game'," Sam began to teach Ironhide how to use the controller, and Ratchet used this as a chance to escape. He mumbled grumpily to himself, before deciding to leave the hangar to go and do, well,  _anything_ else. He cried out angrily when he was blocked by another bot, before letting out a small whimper of shame when he realised who the bot actually was. 

"Oh, Optimus, forgive me," Ratchet whimpered sheepishly. Optimus blinked at him.

"What is going on?" He inquired, before looking over at Sam and the others. Ratchet followed his gaze and huffed. 

"Bah, it's some childish- Optimus?" Ratchet watched as Optimus walked closer with curiosity. "Does anyone have any sense of maturity?" The medic mumbled to himself, throwing his hands in the air in defeat.

 

Prime drew closer to the trio, and glared confusedly at the projection Bumblebee was firing at the wall. "What is that?"

Sam turned to look at the leader, smiling, "It's Skyrim. It's a game. I think you'd like it. Wanna play after Ironhide?"

"No." Optimus replied immediately, but with such a calm and polite tone that made Sam take it as a 'maybe'. 

Ratchet came back, arms folded. "He's a  _Prime._ He has more important things to do than play games." He sneered, amusing Ironhide.

"And I suppose you also have important things to do?" Ironhide threw at him, optics still watching the game's opening scene play out on the wall.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." Ratchet scoffed.

"Like what?" 

"Well, I-" Ratchet paused.

"That says it all. Sit and watch." Ironhide's words sounded somewhat cheery for once, and he soon perked up as he was finally allowed to create his character. "Ugh, these are hideous- wait, is that a feline?"

Ratchet sighed. "Look at the bonuses the individual races give, that'd provide much more optimal gameplay than mere  _aesthetic_." He quickly froze when he realized what he'd just said. "Not...that I care. Pick a pretty one, see if I care." 

Optimus stared blankly at the wall, not entirely sure what to make of it. "Is this what humans do in their spare time? Play this?" He was clearly trying to be polite. 

Sam was having a  _great_ time watching everyone bicker, so Optimus's voice did catch him off guard.  "Oh, uh, yeah - well not this game specifically, but it is popular right now. Not sure there's anyone on Earth who  _hasn't_ played it."

Optimus hummed in thought, considering Sam's words. "So, this game is culturally significant to your kind? Interesting." He turned to Ratchet and gestured for him to sit beside Ironhide.

Ratchet stared at the Prime with a mix of betrayal and shock. "You can't be serious."

"If we are to remain as guests on this planet, we ought to show some respect to the inhabitant's way of life. This is part of their culture. Would you not want humans to show respect if they were guests upon Cybertron, Ratchet?"

Ratchet sighed in defeat, sitting beside the now grinning weapons specialist without saying a word. Optimus perched awkwardly behind Sam and Bumblebee, looking slightly uncomfortable yet silent so as not to offend his human friend.

Sam, on the other hand, was trying very hard not to explode into raucous fits of laughter.

Ironhide was still selecting a race for his character, yet he had taken quite a liking to the Argonian - a race of reptilians. 

Ratchet had pointed to the race's description, voice subtly throwing off some approval, "Look, a resistance to diseases. Surely a massive advantage." 

Sam looked over at Ironhide confusedly, for he was not exactly a fan of the bug-eyed lizard race (as he and Bumblebee had once called them). Ironhide beamed down at him.

"They look like dragons. Those badass lizards you once showed me." Ironhide seemed full of childlike innocence at this moment and continued to appear this way all throughout the character customisation. In the end, he was left with a horned black and red character. "Not bad." He had commented himself. 

Soon, the game's scene advanced. Ironhide was appalled when an in-game person announced his character would be beheaded, staring with some anger at the projection. Sam told him to wait, and just before Ironhide could complain, a loud dragon crashed on screen - startling all the bots except for Optimus, who remained as confused as ever.

Ironhide grinned at the huge beast. "Look Ratchet, it's my parent." He joked.

"That's impossible given the fact that you are a humanoid, bipedal reptilian and that is a winged crocodilian animal on an enormous scale. For a biological relationship to be possible, you'd have to be-  _ow!"_ Ratchet's rant was immediately silenced by Ironhide elbowing him in the arm.

"Oops." The black mech muttered, grinning at Sam. Optimus politely tapped Ironhide's shoulder, throwing a disapproving look at the shorter bot. "Sorry boss."

With the tutorial now in full effect, Ironhide watched with delight as chaos ensued all around his character. Occasionally, a human non-playable character would pop up, giving Ironhide's Argonian instructions. "Can I kill him? What about him? Surely I can kill  _that_."

Ratchet sighed as loud as possible, resulting in 'Hide throwing him a dirty look. "Maybe if you focused on getting out of that precarious situation, you would have an opportunity to quench your insatiable - and frankly, quite disgusting - bloodthirst. Optimus, are you seeing this? Surely these...these  _games_ ignite violent tendencies!"

Optimus looked over at Ratchet, blinking, before gesturing to Sam. "Sam does not show violent tendencies, and he has played this game before."

Ratchet looked up at Prime with disbelief. "Sam killed  _Megatron."_

Ironhide snorted, his thick digits hammering the makeshift controller, "Like that worked."

"I am right here. You know that, right?" Sam piped up.

Optimus hushed everyone, servo extended, before pointing at the screen. "Quiet now, I do believe a minor choice is approaching. These two men want you to pick between them. I have reason to believe this could affect the gameplay later on." He looked down at Sam, both looking for confirmation and also looking to see if he was impressing the human. Sam looked up and gave him a silent nod, before turning to face the 'screen' again. 

Ironhide hummed thoughtfully before his character turned to follow the man named Hadvar. "He has nice armor." Ironhide reasoned. 

The gameplay continued, complete with bickering between Ironhide and Ratchet - the latter of the two wishing for more care to be taken when collecting in-game resources - and of course, dead silence from Optimus Prime. 

Sam looked up at Optimus, concerned that the giant mech felt forced to stay. May as well give him a reason to stay, he thought. Turning to Ironhide, he shot the bot a grin. "Hey Hide, how about we let Optimus play?" Ironhide looked as shocked as Optimus did.

"Sam, I do not think that is necessary- oh," Optimus broke off when he felt Ironhide place the slab of metal on his lap. Once again, he felt obliged to pick it up so as not to offend Sam - yet he couldn't help but feel slight regret over walking in in the first place. 

Sheepishly fiddling with the somewhat badly wired controller, he watched as Ironhide's character performed various actions. At one point, the character suddenly disappeared and a load of menus took its place. "Uh...Sam, I'm not sure I am capable of playing this." 

"You're a Prime - you can do anything. Here, watch me," Sam picked up the ordinary PlayStation controller and pretended he was playing, "Walk, attack, crouch, turn, jump."

"Walk, attack, crouch, turn, jump." Optimus whispered as he mimicked Sam's actions, hitting buttons with a ridiculous amount of care and gentleness.

"Oh, for Primus' sake..." Ratchet muttered, growing uncomfortable. Seeing the Prime with a game controller in his hand was just so... _wrong._

Sam ignored Ratchet, "See? It's easy. Now all you have to do is kill that bear and you can progress to the next bit."

Optimus Prime looked shocked, almost uncomfortable with this fact. "Must I kill it? It looks as though it is merely resting. I would not wish death upon this creature merely because it happened to be in my path," Optimus turned the camera angle in-game, before blinking, "It's not actually  _in_ my path."

Optimus, now feeling some confidence, hit a few buttons and made the character crouch. He then proceeded to sneak past the sleeping bear, his digits pressing the controller with such silence that Sam wondered if the Prime had forgotten this was just a game. As in,  _not real._

Having successfully sneaked his way past the apparent foe, he pointed at the screen with pride. "See? You do not always have to start a battle if the supposed 'enemy' can merely be avoided with care and precision. By executing the correct maneuvers, I was able to pass the sleeping animal with stealth, and as such, I avoided conflict." Prime lectured, proud of his achievement.

The Autobots - excluding Bumblebee - turned to stare at their leader, completely in shock that the Prime was seemingly enjoying the game. 

Sam, blinked at him. "Optimus...this is a game. You know that, right?"

Prime recoiled slightly, drawing the controller up to his chest as if defensively. "I, uh, yes. Yes, of course." He mumbled almost sheepishly, before he handed the controller back to Ironhide, "I feel you are better suited to these forms of Earth entertainment." He said quietly, before continuing to perch silently behind Sam with a slight awkwardness about him. 

He made a mental note -  _retrieve a copy of this Earth game for my own use_. 


End file.
